Doubt no more: Drag racer's decision to switch rides now paying off

MARTIN – Drag racer Ryan Piechocki was second guessing the decision he made to park his Mustang in favor of a 28-foot dragster just as recently as three weeks ago.

Courtesy PhotoRyan Piechocki switched to a dragster a year ago, and earlier this month, he won his first race at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin.

All that changed in a matter of eight seconds or so.

That’s how long it took for the Wayland driver to complete his pass on the Martin Dragway quarter-mile during the July 7 Top Eliminator finals at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park. Piechocki defeated Christine VanderSloot in the finals, giving him his first victory in his dragster.

“Up until (July 7), I hardly won any rounds,” Piechocki said. “I’m thinking, ‘What’s the deal? Is this the move that I should have done?’ Maybe I should have kept the Mustang.
“But when I looked up and saw the win light, I’m thinking, there is no way. It still doesn’t seem real. At the beginning of the season, I never would have expected it.”

Piechocki will return to Martin Saturday for the first time since his victory. Martin’s weekly classes were off last weekend because the track hosted the American Drag Racing League. Plenty will be at stake for area drivers since Martin is hosting a double points night for its Lane Bracket Racing Series. Piechocki enters this weekend’s action sixth in the point standings, so he will have an opportunity to make up ground in a hurry.

While Piechocki did find success in his Mustang, considering he did win a race, the idea of racing a dragster intrigued him. He made the switch a year ago, and it has been no simple transition.

“The Mustang is an 11-second car, and I won once with that,” Piechocki said. “It was my first and only win in that one. But I wanted to go faster, and the only way to go faster was to get into something that weighs 1,800 pounds.

“No one told me what to expect (in a dragster). It feels like you are rear-ended at 80 miles per hour. My first pass, I didn’t even have it in first gear. I had it in second gear, and I didn’t know about it. The first time down, I realized I was riding the brake pedal. I started to think I might have been a little over my head in a dragster.”

Piechocki, 27 and a Godwin Heights High School graduate, is figuring it all out, though. He and his team have continued to tinker with the dragster to the point where Piechocki is getting more and more comfortable in his ride. Piechocki roared through six rounds to win two weeks ago, and that came after he advanced to the semifinals on June 30.

“I have more confidence in the car,” he said. “A buddy stiffened the rear of the car up, and it started coming around for me. Going up there previously, I didn’t know if it was going to break. I wondered if it was going to leak fluids on the track.

“You can’t have confidence on the starting line like that. But as long as car is sound, I feel much more comfortable.”

Piechocki is sponsored by Weller Auto Parts, Barber Ford Collision Center and RP Graphics. He is a second generation driver. His father, Randy Piechocki, has been drag racing since the mid-1970s.

“I think my dad is happier than I am about it. He was tearing up,” Piechocki said. “He has put a lot of work into it.”